Can English cricket win at social media?
Michael Vaughan is delighted at being made to go on Twitter
English cricket is not known for its innovation and dynamism, on or off the field. Our lack of cricketing prowess will be demonstrated to the world (again) in the Twenty20 World Cup this summer and as much as I’d love England to win the Ashes the chances are at best slim.
Yet I was strangely cheered this morning by news that the England and Wales Cricket Board are to use Twitter, YouTube and Facebook as part of a wider marketing initiative this summer. With no football tournaments and no Olympic games, cricket has a chance to engage with a much wider audience than it does usually and it is encouraging to see such an austere and conservative organisation as the ECB willing to branch out and use social media for this purpose.
Cricket definitely has a perception problem with many people incorrectly assuming it to be stuffy, boring and only followed by old men. This is emphatically not the case and any steps to engage with a younger audience are to be applauded - if the ECB can use social media then so can anyone. I just hope they get some of the players involved as I’d love to read the thoughts of @KP “I wouldn’t have done it that way Straussy”, @vaughany “@Vaughanny is disappointed to have played at that wide one” and @belly “given it away again, gutted”
Tags: Facebook, social media, Twitter, YouTube
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Comments (1)
April 16th, 2009 at 7:53 am Posted by Nick Osborne
It’s interesting that cricket in the UK still has the stuffy image, especially after the acceptance of Twenty20 cricket which was supposed to revolutionise the game. I think social media will help, but it may be a case of the people who are already fans getting on board.
I think they also need a clever viral PR campaign to really grab the interest of the public and the Twenty20 World Cup and the Ashes are probably the best opportunity for the ECB to do it. Clever PR and marketing are important, but perfect timing is always vital to a successful publicity campaign.
But in the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t matter really, Australia are still going to win the Ashes! C’mon Aussie C’mon!
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